


The Barracks

by BridgetteIrish



Series: Susan Vasquez Needs Love Too [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-02 23:51:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8688397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetteIrish/pseuds/BridgetteIrish
Summary: Kara is lonely and scared.Susan is there to help.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I am solely responsible for this crack.  
> I was advised against it.  
> It happened anyway.

Kara was sad and scared.  She’d watched her sister ride off to Rao-knows-where down a dark highway.  Siobhan was still being a holy terror at CatCo and Cat seemed to be enjoying it.  The thought of an empty apartment and a cold bed made her heart sink.  She and Lucy went their separate ways outside of the east bunker at the DEO, so as not to be seen together.  She watched Lucy’s headlights disappear into the desert and wandered into the building, hoping to talk to her mother’s hologram or have a good cry in Alex’s office.

She walked into an empty main tactical room.  The Army must have effectively cleared the site of all but necessary staff.  The one agent on duty turned at the sound of her boots clicking on the concrete floor, but he didn’t stand or address her.

She cleared her throat.  “Have you seen Agent Vasquez?”

“She was dismissed for the night.  Try the barracks.”

Kara stuck her tongue out behind the rude soldier’s back and made her way past the locker room to the small barracks in the back of the bunker.  It was a crowded room full of a dozen cots.  Sitting on one in the middle of the room, looking more small and human than she ever did, sat Susan Vasquez, reading a book and chewing absently on a thumbnail.

She looked up as Kara entered the room and jumped to her feet, dropping the book to the floor.

“Ma’am.” She stood at attention and refused to make eye contact with Kara.

With a burst of superspeed Kara was across the room and handing the book back to the agent.  “At ease, agent.  I’m not your superior.  I don’t hold any rank.  We’re equals, you and me.  Please, sit.”  Kara sat on the bed next to Vasquez, hoping she would follow suit.  She did.  Two warriors sat across from each other, unsure what to say.

Vasquez broke the silence first.  “Ma’am-”

“Call me Kara.  Please,” she pleaded.  “Let’s not pretend you don’t hear everything I tell Alex and Hank or that you don’t know exactly who I am.  Almost half of the people in the world who know my secret had to leave tonight, and I don’t know when they’re coming back.”  Kara’s voice broke slightly.  “I can use all the friends I can get.”

“Kara,” Vasquez tried it out slowly.  “Okay.  Then call me Susan.”

Kara smiled.  “Susan.  It suits you.”

A minute passed in silence.  Kara watched her hands twist in her lap, Susan picked at the binding of her book.

This time, it was Kara who spoke first.  “What you did today, for Alex, for me.”

“It was nothing,” Susan deflected.  “Anyone would have done the same in my position.”

Kara met her eyes.  “I think we both know that isn’t true.”  She sniffed and wiped at the tears which had escaped her shining blue eyes.  “Thank you,” she swallowed against the lump in her throat.

On instinct, Susan switched beds and sank down next to Kara, pulling her head down against her shoulder and squeezing her around her waist.  She offered comfort when Kara wasn’t even fully aware of how badly she needed it and Kara broke down.  She turned her head into Susan’s neck and let the woman stroke her hair and rub her back as she cried.  Weeks of grief and pain, of anger and fear and heartbreak came pouring from Kara.  Her loss of Cat, the stress of Siobhan, telling Lucy, who proved herself but still seemed angry, watching Alex and Hank ride out of sight.  It all came out onto Susan Vasquez’s strong shoulder.

Kara had always found friends in unexpected places, but this strong, quiet woman whose constant presence they had all taken for granted so many times was saving her for a second time today.  Susan had gifted her with a fierce loyalty and it stirred something in Kara.  Something ancient and deep and tied to her people.  Something that told her this woman was important and brave.  She lifted her head and found herself looking into wide brown eyes.  She opened her mouth to speak.  To say ‘thank you’ or ‘I’m sorry’.  Instead she captured Susan’s lips with her own.

A firm, slender hand landed on her cheek, holding her in place and Susan opened to the kiss.  She pressed Kara back against the thin military mattress and scratched gently at the soft hair on the back of Kara’s neck.  Kara’s fingers dove into Susan’s short hair and drew herself away with incredible effort.  “Wait,” she begged, almost sobbing at the loss of soft warm lips.  “I shouldn’t, Susan.  I’m sad and scared and emotional.”  She sat up and traced Susan’s shoulder and collarbone with one finger, unwilling to meet those warm eyes.  “I don’t want to take advantage of your… chivalry.”  She smiled in spite of herself.

Susan chuckled.  “I’m not feeling very chivalrous, if you must know.”  She pulled Kara’s hand from where it was drawing distracting shapes against her bicep now and laid a sweet kiss on Kara’s knuckles.  “There’s nothing wrong with asking for comfort, Kara, if that’s what you need in this moment.”  She pulled Kara’s head against her own.  “If I didn’t want it, I would say no.  I can see you need an anchor tonight, to not be alone, to feel tethered to the earth.”  She squeezed a handful of Kara’s cape in her hand.  “Am I close?”

Kara swallowed.  “Very.”  She took a shuddering breath, shaking off her anxiety and guilt.  “I can’t give you-”

“I know,” Susan insisted.  “I can’t either.  But I can give you this.”  She kissed Kara gently.  “I can give you tonight.”

A tear trickled down Kara’s cheek again and she captured Susan’s lips again.  “Okay,” she breathed into warm lips.  “Okay.”  They fell against the mattress again.

 

+++++++++++

 

Kara woke up first and pulled her fingers gently through the short hair above Susan’s ears.  She listened to the steady heartbeat.

“I’m leaving in six weeks,” Susan’s sleepy voice startled Kara and she looked down to see hooded brown eyes blinking in the dim light of the barracks.

“What?”  

Susan sat up and ran a hand through Kara’s mussed hair, smiling.  “Dios Mio, you are beautiful.”  She pressed a kiss to Kara’s lips.  “I’ve been reassigned.  To another agency, responsible for tracking, protecting and apprehending metahumans.”  Susan pulled away from Kara and found her black tanktop.  “They don’t call them that.”

“You’re going to work for Shield,” Kara confirmed.  “My cousin has told me about it.”

Feeling less exposed now, Susan flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.  “I hope, by the time I leave, Alex and Hank will be back.  Maybe you’ll be back on track with your boss.”  She turned and propped her head on her hand.  Kara mirrored her position.  “I won’t leave if I don’t know you’ll be okay on your own.  I made a promise to your sister once.”

Kara rolled her eyes.  “Did you now.  Anybody in this operation she didn’t strongarm into protecting me at all cost?”

Susan shrugged.  “I think she knew it wouldn’t be a particular challenge for me.”

Kara blushed fiercely and pressed her lips together.  She hid her face in Susan’s neck and reveled in the strong fingers that wove into her long curls. 

The realization hit her after only a few seconds.  “We have six weeks?”  Vasquez nodded.  Kara dove forward and kissed her hard.  “Get dressed.  I’m taking you to my place.”

“Yes ma’am.”

**Author's Note:**

> Send me your Vasquez headcanons.  
> I intend to keep finding Susan love.


End file.
